Monday 13 March 2017

Telekinetic Yeti - Abominable (Album Review)


Release date: March 17th 2017. Label: Sump Pump Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Abominable – Tracklisting

1.Abominable
2.Electronaut
3.Stoned and Feathered
4.Colossus
5.Lightbearer
6.Apophis
7.Beneath the Black Sun
8.Himalayan Hymn

Band Members

Anthony Dreyer – Drums
Alex Baumann – Guitar/Vocals

Review

There was a time when the very concept of a‘band’ was synonymous with the four elements, five if the singer did not play any instrument, six, seven, eight or more if you played prog.

From time, instead, we are witnessing a real synthesis, in terms of elements. The band began a work of reductionism, looking at the essential and removing those elements which, in the end, may not be functional. Today, many bands rely on the perfect number, three. Some crazy daredevils, instead, rely on even more tablet formulas, reducing even more the bone the line-up.

Telekinetic Yeti, from Dubuque, Iowa, (USA) are a classic example of how, sometimes, the perfect number is two. The band of Alex Baumann (guitar and vocals) and Anthony Dreyer (drums) gave the world Abominable (via Sump Pump Records), 42 minutes of a majestic (almost instrumental) stoner/doom flavored by peaks of pure psychedelia.

Abominable is an outstanding album, performed and produced masterfully, and where there is nothing to regret the absence of a bass line. The musical synthesis obtained by Telekinetic Yeti translates into a better care of the sounds and the composition of the songs, where the vowels raids by Alex give that extra touch in songs, in itself beautiful. In 42 minutes of pure energy, the band manages to mix the sounds of bands like Clutch, Red Fang, Asteroid, The Sword in a more doom/psychedelic key.

Tracks like the opener Abominable sound like a doomy Clutch while Electronaut feel the echoes of a riffage worthy of the best Sleep. All the songs in Abominable travel on high quality levels, always suspended between classic stoner and ferocious doom, never trivial or obvious.

Telekinetic Yeti manage to condense in the 42 minutes of Abominable a knowing impressive sound spectrum, most probably due to the need to cope with the lack of a bass line. In Telekinetic Yeti, such failure results in opportunities. The opportunity to cure in an almost manic their sound, and composing with a unique freedom their songs that, ultimately, prove to be of little gems. Stuff that many bands with a more complete line-up can safely dream of.

Although only two, Telekinetic Yeti have the power of a supernova.

Good job guys.

Words by Bruno Bellisario

Thanks to Telekinetic Yeti for the promo. Abominable will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Sump Pump Records from March 17th 2017.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp